COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 26, 2017 – Sandata Technologies, the leading provider of electronic visit verification™ (EVV™) software to the home care industry, announced today account manager Debra Hankish led a panel discussion on the federal EVV mandate and its potential effects on Ohio’s agency and non-agency home care providers at the Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice’s Annual Conference, on Sept. 20.

The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) recently contracted with Sandata Technologies to provide the software, program orientation and training to providers for Ohio’s EVV system. According to ODM’s web site, home care providers will be required to use an electronic visit verification system for many home and community-based services beginning in January 2018.

The use of EVV systems by home care providers when billing through Medicaid was mandated as part of the 21st Century Cures Act that was passed in December, 2016. EVV systems are designed to verify home care services are billed for actual visits made. Although the Cures Act is a federal mandate, state Medicaid departments have been charged with choosing how EVV standards are rolled out in their states, and in overseeing compliance among home care providers. The federal deadline for state Medicaid departments and home care agencies to implement EVV programs is Jan. 1, 2019 for Personal Care Services.

Hankish presented to Ohio’s largest yearly gathering of home care providers on Wednesday, Sept. 20, as part of a panel discussion entitled “Electronic Visit Verification Update.” She provided a status of where the ODM and Sandata are in the implementation process, a timeline for implementation and background on the “visit” data collected electronically, the claims submissions process and the steps providers need to take to prepare for implementation.

“Based on our experience, we expect agencies to evolve in their use of EVV from compliance to cost effectiveness to competitive advantage,” said Hankish, who has more than 25 years of experience helping healthcare organizations implement technology solutions. “Compliance is typically the initial goal, but soon agencies realize EVV and additional agency management software can make their operations more cost effective. Soon they realize that the efficiencies they’ve gained through digitizing the process is a competitive advantage, improving patient care and attracting care givers.”

Ohio’s Department of Medicaid chose to implement what’s called the Open Model, meaning that agency home care providers have a choice of software providers. No matter the software provider, all claims are funneled through an aggregator system where standardized business rules are applied to ensure visits are properly verified and ultimately paid, providing comprehensive oversight to the entire program.

Sandata introduced EVV to the homecare industry and has 37 years’ experience providing EVV solutions, worked closely with the sponsors of the Cures Act, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation to provide input and expert testimony on EVV. In a Nov. 25, 2016, report, the Congressional Budget Office scored the Cures legislation and forecasted that EVV will save $290 million between 2017-2026.